There’s a baseball bat propped up against the wall in Shara Kenworthey’s tattoo studio. Discreetly tucked behind a hand-painted turquoise filing cabinet of needles and ink, it’s a just-in-case weapon, easily grabbed should something go wrong. “So far, I’ve never had to use it,” the 28-year-old says. “But there have been men – several men – who have seemed to think that it’s acceptable to come onto me. I’m pretty good at telling them where to go when it happens, but I’m also on my own here all day every day. So I have the bat.”

It’s been less than two months since the Texan-born artist opened Shara Tattoos – the first and only female-owned tattoo shop in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. But the calendar above her desk already shows a complicated and comprehensive bookings system, with appointments inked in weeks in advance. Requests are diverse, as are her clients, who range from local Muslim women to former members of the military. “One group of American guys came in wanting ‘Isis Hunters’ on their forearms. I just went with it,” she says.

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The fact that it’s only been two years since Kenworthey first picked up a tattoo gun doesn’t seem a problem – her talent speaks for itself. Were she still in the US, Kenworthey knows she’d probably still be an apprentice, cleaning up after older, more experienced artists.

Despite a culture of deeply ingrained patriarchal values – where many men continue to refuse to shake a woman’s hand – Kurdistan has attracted female entrepreneurs from across the world. Rebeen Pasha, the founder of MyeDream Incubator Incorporation – the first organisation to focus on supporting and empowering young people and women who want to enter the private sector in Iraqi Kurdistan – says he has witnessed “exponential” growth in the number of women launching businesses in the region over the past six months.

“In a place where 1% of women over 18 are working in the private sector, we clearly have a long way to go,” he says. “But last year 40% of our incubator participants were female, and our first and second prize entrepreneur champions were both women – so progress is definitely happening, and quickly.”

Many, like Kenworthey, who initially moved to Erbil to work as an English teacher, stumble upon the city’s career opportunities after arriving. Others, such as 29-year-old beauty salon owner Marwa Sabbah, from Lebanon, are targeting the Kurdish capital, keen to take advantage of comparatively low rental rates, limited bureaucracy and affordable childcare, while getting a headstart on a transitioning region before its independence referendum in September this year. Either way, the city’s proximity to the ongoing conflict in Mosul doesn’t seem to pose a problem, as expatriate women find a growing business destination of potential, freeing them to fulfil long-held aspirations that their own countries held back.

Erbil's one of the most stable places in the world but people don’t realise that until they get here

Rebeen Pasha

“The problem with Erbil is more about its perception than the reality,” says Pasha. “In terms of security, it’s one of the most stable places in the world – but people don’t often realise that until they get here. Of course, Kurdistan is a nascent eco-system recovering from a period of economic crisis, so there are challenges. But this kind of environment can level the playing field and serve as a brilliant opportunity for those previously sidelined to find scalable, sustainable solutions.”

For Sophia Miran, 36, from west London, that’s certainly the case. After working as an estate agent in Ealing throughout her twenties, she relocated to Erbil in December 2012 with her husband, who is Kurdish, and launched Fig Club, the city’s first dance and theatre school, two years later. “I always dreamed of being a ballet teacher,” she says. “But in the UK, the arts feel oversaturated. There’s so much competition that I would always think, ‘Oh, maybe I’m not good enough to do that’, or ‘Someone else is more qualified and already doing something similar’.”

There were also the financial implications to consider. “London is expensive, and I knew I wanted to have a family, so having a stable income and maternity leave felt important,” Miran says. “Starting over was never an option – every decision came down to money.” Childcare in Erbil, on the other hand, was affordable and the city didn’t so much have a few gaps in the market as a series of great gaping holes.

“As soon as I had the idea to launch an arts centre here, I believed I could do it,” she says. “Nobody else was doing anything like it, so I didn’t have any insecurities about failing or not knowing enough or feeling like an imposter. It was like I’d been handed a piece of paper and whatever I put on it would be better than just leaving it blank.”

Kanny Ahmadi, 30, agrees that while gender-based discrimination is still pervasive in Kurdistan, the scale of potential success overshadows daily inequalities. Born in Iran, she studied software engineering and business administration at Tehran University, before heading across the border to Erbil with dreams of launching her own fashion design empire. Her first shoe shop, Luminous Spring, opened in Ainkawa in March, selling African-inspired brogues, Scandi-style heels and embroidered slip-ons at $30-$50 (£23-£38) a pair.

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“There are so many opportunities for female education in Iran,” Ahmadi says. “Women are highly qualified, but there are a lot of restrictions regarding the way you can live your life. It doesn’t feel like that in Kurdistan – here you can achieve as much as you want if you just go for it. People want more services here, so if you’re driven and determined, that overshadows gender and experience.”

Kenworthey has observed what she describes as an archaic culture of sexism in the region, but she says “there’s also sense of near lawlessness here that gives you so many more opportunities to try new things”.

“Women all over the world are always taught to know their place, but when an entire city is in development, everything is fair game,” she says. “You don’t have to have a shiny CV or reams of degrees and diplomas to succeed. People will take a chance on you if you have the right attitude. It’s like, ‘Oh so you want to work in a tattoo shop but you’ve only ever inked on an orange before? Go for it, girl. Show us what you’ve got’.”

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